A GoFundMe Page has been set up to raise £100,000 for a celebrity agent who is in a coma in Mexico after falling ill with Covid-19, because his insurance only covers the first 24 hours of care.
Cancer survivor Terry Mills, 38, originally from Devon, is fighting for his life at a hospital in Cancun, Mexico, after he caught Covid-19 during a business trip which later developed into pneumonia.
The celebrity agent looks after clients including TOWIE’S Yazmin Oukhellou, Gogglebox’s Amy Tapper, and Callum Izzard from Ibiza Weekender.
His friends have since set up the fundraising page to pay for the ‘astronomical’ cost of treatment costs as well as a flight home, expected to amount to £100,000, with stars including Natalie Cassidy, Amy Tapper, Alison Hammond, Max Bowden, Gillian Taylforth, Letitia Dean and Chizzy Akudolu chiping in.
It is not clear when Mr Mills travelled to Mexico, which has counted more than 1.7 million Covid-19 cases and more than 150,000 deaths.
Terry Mills (pictured alongside friend and fundraiser organiser Sarah-Louise Robertson on her wedding day), originally from Devon, is fighting for his life at a hospital in Cancun, Mexico, after he caught Covid-19 during a business trip which later developed into pneumonia
The fundraiser read: ‘The hospital have told family and friends if Terry was to have any chance of survival he had to be induced into a coma and placed on a ventilator for a minimum of ten days, plus recovery care beyond that, and a flight to bring them home to England.
‘The cost is astronomical, but you can’t put a price on a person’s life and we are at the mercy of the Playa Med Hospital in Cancun.
‘We’ve clubbed together and thrown everything we have at this so far in order to buy Terry a hospital bed where he has been receiving oxygen and antibiotics, but his condition worsened and the doctors said he had to be put on a ventilator if he is to survive this.
The celebrity agent (pictured with the cheerleaders for American football team the Raiders) looks after clients including TOWIE’S Yazmin Oukhellou, Gogglebox’s Amy Tapper, and Callum Izzard from Ibiza Weekender
Friends of the Brit, who is battling coronavirus in Mexico, have been told that his insurance only covers the first 24 hours of care. Pictured: Terry (right) abroad with a friend
‘We’re frightened. We want to be there holding Terry’s hand but we’re not allowed and we need to raise another £100,000 within the next ten days to pay for this life-saving treatment.’
It said that the group had contacted the British Consulate which had done as much as it could, but concluded that the final cost for medical care lies with the patient.
It continued: ‘Imagine if it was your other half, child, sibling, friend, lying there in a strange hospital thousands of miles from home not understanding what doctors are saying to them, not allowed to have anybody with them on the ward for the fear of contagion of Covid-19.
The page was set up to raise £100,000 in just ten days for Terry (pictured with friend Sarah-Louise) after his friends were told his insurance only covers the first 24 hours of care
‘You’d do everything you could to save them. You wouldn’t want them to die, alone, simply because they did not have enough money to pay for medical care.
‘We are so lucky to have our wonderful NHS.
‘Times are hellish for all our families and the whole world in this brutal pandemic, but if you can spare anything, even the smallest amount of change it can help buy our darling Terry more time to let the doctors do their work and save their life, so we hopefully can bring him home to us.’
The GoFundMe page, which was set up by Terry’s friends – Sarah-Louise, Cat and Sam – has so far raised more than £32,000 of its £100,000 target.
It added: ‘Many of you reading this will know Terry and so you don’t need us to tell you what an amazing person and caring friend he is.
‘Those who don’t, well to know him is to love him.’
The page also revealed that Terry (pictured with friend Sarah-Louise) – who was previously a radio presenter on ExmouthAiR – beat cancer
Terry’s cousin, Emma Mills, said: ‘We need to raise another £100,000 within the next 10 days to pay for this life-saving treatment.
‘We are devastated – he is all alone out there, we can speak with the hospital staff but it’s made difficult as there is a language barrier.’
Emma added that from the moment Terry first displayed symptoms to being placed into an induced coma was a matter of days.
She said: ‘He began displaying symptoms on the Monday.
Terry’s cousin Emma Mills (pictured together) said that the family are heartbroken
‘By the Thursday he could barely speak as he was struggling to breathe – he was placed on oxygen.
‘Then on the Saturday, the hospital said that if he was to have any chance of survival he had to be induced into a coma and placed on a ventilator for a minimum of 10 days.’
Emma added that the family are heartbroken and Terry’s mother is worried sick.
She said: ‘The cost is astronomical – we have all clubbed together as much as we can.
‘He has so much still to give to the world.’
Last year, Terry, who was previously a radio presenter on ExmouthAiR, beat cancer.
His former boss, ExmouthAiR’s Station Manager Andy Green, took to Facebook with a tribute that read: ‘We are all deeply shocked at ExmouthAiR to hear this news, Terry is a colourful, lovely bubbly character who was an integral part of our early trial broadcasts who brought so much joy and energy to the airwaves.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Terry and his family and friends at this time.’